Hungover
by Kate Manoso
Summary: Challenge responses to another site that turned into a story of sorts. Steph hooks up with a MM.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine._

**Hungover**

Sitting down on the couch in the bonds office, I pulled out a large fry to hand to Lula before I started shoveling my own fries in my mouth. There was absolute silence in the office as we all tried to pull ourselves out of our hangovers.

"I woke up on my bathroom floor this morning," I finally said after doling out Tylenol to the girls fifteen minutes later. "The last thing I remember was dancing at The Inferno."

"I remember going to Salsa after The Inferno," Connie whispered as she laid her head back down on her desk.

"We made it to After Dark after Salsa," Lula said as she leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. "Thank God the wedding isn't till tomorrow, otherwise we'd all look like hell for the pictures."

"Remind me again why Mary Lou is renewing her vows," Connie said with her face still smashed to the desk.

"Fifteenth wedding anniversary," I said as I rolled off the couch to the floor and curled into the fetal position. "It was actually Lenny's idea."

Lula said, "Wow."

That pretty much summed it up for all of us. It had totally floored me when Mary Lou had called me and told me that Lenny had suggested it. An all out wedding all over again to renew their vows. My only question had been do we get to do a Hen party. It turned out that Lenny had thought that had been a great idea, so me and Lula had planned it all.

We had started off at Paulo's, a new upscale Mexican restaurant. From there, we were suppose to go to The Inferno, then Salsa, then After Dark. Ranger had been nice and supplied us with a limo for the night so that we wouldn't have to worry about having someone sober to drive us around. Nick, the limo driver, had been prepared and got everyone's name and took a picture of us as we got in the limo so that he could keep track of us better at the clubs. It had occurred to me that Nick might be one of the RangeMan that had transferred up from Miami recently, but I was all for an undercover Merry Man for a night.

"Who did you go home with last night, Steph?" Lula asked, her face scrunched together like she was wearing her brain out trying to think about it.

I just frowned. "I didn't go home with anyone last night."

"I remember that part," Connie whispered. "But I can't remember anything about him."

"I woke up alone," I said with a shrug. "Must not have gone as far as you guys thought. And what's up with you guys letting me take a stranger home?"

"Nick knew him," Lula said.

"And Nick is our new best friend?" I gave Lula an incredulous look. "I'm never getting drunk with you people again. I need to call my gyno and set up an appointment to make sure I didn't get anything. Thanks for looking out for me."

The front door opened and all three of us grabbed our heads as the new bells that Connie put up started chiming. There was a soft collective groan from the three of us when the last bell vibration finally faded. If it would have been a gun toting serial killer, all three of us would have been dead by now.

"I went out to get you your cure and you weren't on the bathroom floor when I got back."

My head did that slow moving turn like you see in horror movies when I recognized the hesitant voice that came from the door.

"Oh, shit," Lula said. "Oh, hell no! You totally didn't go home with him last night!"

Lula's raised voice caused me to wince as little men with jackhammers started going off I my head again.

His eyes narrowed as he looked over at Lula. "And what's wrong with Steph going home with me last night?"

"You work for Ranger!" Lula accused. "You know Batman has the hots for our girl!"

"Then maybe he should have stepped up to the plate some time within the last four months since Steph has been single," he growled. "Besides, you guys are acting like what we did last night is any of your business when it's not."

"Dude. You guys are sooo harshing my mellow right now." Connie's voice was pained. "Can we not raise our voices so that my head doesn't exploded."

"Of course," he said quietly. "Sorry, Connie. I'm just not use to people jumping into my personal business."

Connie waved a dismissive hand.

The whole time that they had all been bickering, I had stared at him and tried to rack my brain for a memory of last night. It took a minute, but I finally got a brief vision of the two of us dancing at After Dark. It was hot and a lot of lip action. Just the thought of it sent things low in my body clenching.

"You okay?" he asked as he took a few step towards me and dropped down to the floor. He gently moved a stray curl out of my face and gave me a light smile. "You aren't looking too good. Why don't you let me take you back home? We can come back and get you car later when you feel better."

That sounded like the best idea I had heard in a long time. His gentleness and concern moved a large lump into my throat that prevented me from talking, so I just nodded my agreement. No one had been that way with me in a long time and it felt a little nice. It took a few deep breaths to get my stomach calm enough to allow me to sit up. After he pushed more hair back from my face, he took the sun glasses off his head and slid them over my eyes. He gave me the bag of fries and the large Coke to hold as he lifted me off the floor.

"She has legs." Lula sounded pissed and I wasn't sure why.

"But she doesn't feel good. I feel fine and am capable of carrying her." His voice had gone back to doing that growly thing.

"Call me later," Connie said as he turned and started for the door.

The sun was bright, even through the glasses, and pulled a groan from my throat as I turned my face into his neck. "Can you just shoot me when we get back to my place?"

"That wouldn't be any fun," he said with a chuckle. "Why don't we try my hangover remedy before we resort to putting you out of your misery?"

"Why don't I remember us having sex last night?" I asked as he sat me down on the passenger side of his Jeep.

"Because we didn't, Steph," he said as he buckled me in. "I would never have taken advantage of you like that. I'd rather have you remember everything about our first time together than you remember nothing. And I think it would be better for the both of us if you had all of you faculties to make the right decision for yourself."

He walked around the front of the Jeep and jumped in. The ride to my apartment was silent, in a comfortable way. I slid out of my seat before he could get around and pick me up again. He looked a little worried and kept some distance between us while he waited for a wave of nausea to pass through me. It gave me a little satisfaction that I could get rid of most of the worry when I held my hand out to him before we headed up to my apartment.

"I guess we have been kinda dancing around this for a while now, huh?" I asked as he closed and locked my apartment door.

He shrugged. "A few months."

"Why didn't you just ask me out on a date?"

"You were waiting for Ranger." His voice was matter-of-fact as he took my hand and pulled me back to my room. "I know that the two of you care for each other. But he hasn't done anything about it and I really don't think he will. I was just waiting to get past the wedding on Saturday before I asked you out." He gave me a little smile. "You've been really busy helping Mary Lou out and I was hoping that maybe the two of us could go blow some steam off Monday night."

"Monday?"

"Saturday is the wedding and everyone knows that you do Sunday dinner with your parents," he said with a shrug as he pushed me down on the bed and knelt on the floor to take off my shoes and socks. "It's okay if you don't want to. I just thought that since we've been getting along really well lately, that you might want to see what it'd be like to take our relationship to the next level."

He was right. We do get along really well. It wasn't until I really looked at him as he knelt on the floor that I realized that he was one of my best friends. We just kind of gravitated towards each other. Working together, when I filled in at RangeMan, often turned into a full day event. He even fit nicely at my parent's dinner table. It was rare to find someone who could make it all the way through dessert without wanting to shoot Grandma.

A smile started tugging at the corners of my lips. "And if things might happen to go well?"

He took a deep breath and smiled. "Then we'd go out again."

"And just to be clear," I said seriously, "I'm monogamous in my relationships."

He leaned up so that he leaned against the bed between my legs, his face close to mine. "I only want to see you. There's no one else."

"Okay." I nodded my head. "Monday after work."

A bright smile flashed across his face, all white teeth. "Now I can torture you with my hangover cure."

I felt wary. "And that would be?"

He slowly pushed me back on the bed and pulled my legs up. "Good old fashioned snuggling with someone who gives a damn and water with a side of Tylenol."

"What?" My mouth gaped open. "That's not a cure!"

"It sure as hell isn't," he agreed. "But I have the day off and I'm tired and you felt really nice when I was sleeping with you in my arms this morning. So be quiet and just lay down."

It turned out that he was right. Laying down and sleeping next to someone who gives a damn is really nice, he felt really nice. There was a peace that stole into my heart as I laid with my head on his chest and listened to his heart beat as he gently rubbed my lower back. Maybe, just maybe, this was the best hangover I've ever had.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Characters aren't mine._

**Hungover 2**

The sound of the dead bolt in my front door sliding free halted my search. My eyes flew to the clock on my nightstand. 6:20. He was ten minutes early. The sound of the knob turning shot me back into my search. The door closed and there was a creak in the living room where the floor was starting to go soft.

"I'm almost ready," I called out. "I just have to find the earrings and necklace my mom gave me on my birthday. They'd go great with this dress. I put them in a safe place and now I have no clue where the safe place is." And now I was rambling. "If you were a pair of earrings and a necklace, where would you be?"

"The black, knee high boots in the back of your closet."

My heart jumped at the sound of Ranger's voice. To avoid looking at him, I turned to my closet and reached to the far left corner for my boots. Sure enough, as I dumped the boots over, a black velvet box and two pairs of hand cuffs fell out.

"I've been looking for these," I said as I held up the cuffs. I tossed the boots back in the closet before I grabbed the box from the floor and stood up to finally face Ranger. "What's up?"

"Heard you had a date tonight," he said as his eyes lingered over my dress.

I looked down at my dress. It was a simple summer dress, white on top and fading from light shades of purple to a rich plum on the bottom. The spaghetti straps over my shoulders tied into bows and the chest area was bunch with elastic like they did back in the seventies. I loved it when old fashions made a come back. The rest of the dress flowed out and down to my mid thigh. It was a cute summer dress, exactly what I wanted to wear and still look great in one hundred degree weather without melting.

"Is there something wrong with my dress?" I asked as I finally looked up at Ranger.

"Depends," he said after a moment. "Are you going out on a date?"

"Not that it really matters," I said as I walked passed him to the bathroom. I leaned over the sink and put my earrings in as I said, "But, yes, I have a date tonight."

"Who are you going out with?"

Why was Ranger interrogating me? I put on my necklace and ran my hands through my hair quickly before I turned back around to look at Ranger, who was now lounging back on my bed. "If you wait around for another five minutes, you'll see. Now what's wrong with my dress?"

"There's nothing wrong with your dress, Babe," he said quietly as he stared at me. "You look great."

It was like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I know that Ranger was laying across my bed, but this Ranger was slightly off. Something wasn't right and my stomach knotted slightly.

"You're going to ruin my night, aren't you?" I asked with a sigh.

"Not on purpose, Babe."

"Let me guess," I said, my voice a little harsher than I was intending. "Another distraction job."

"We've only got three days left to get this guy and he finally surfaced." There was a thread of regret in his voice.

For some reason, my anger flared. "Do you know when I went on my last date, Ranger? Actually going out to dinner and doing something after?"

He slowly shook his head.

"I don't know either." My front door slowly opened and I gathered my courage. "I'd love to help you out, Ranger. But I have plans tonight that I'm not willing to cancel. You guys rely on me to help you get the bad guy out without causing harm or a scene. But you take me for granted, too. You drop in here all the time and expect me to change my plans to suit your purpose. Maybe that's my fault because I never said anything about it before to discourage you. But that was because I wanted to help you. Well, it ends now. I have plans this evening so you'll have to come up with another plan to get your guy."

Ranger had simply sat there and listened during my tirade. As I grabbed my purse from my dresser he said, "Are you free tomorrow night?"

"If you don't get him tonight and he pops up tomorrow, I'm free," I said after a moment.

He nodded slowly. "Is it okay if I just hang out here for a bit?"

I shrugged. "If you want. Lock up on your way out?"

"Yeah. Have fun on your date."

A smile curved my lips as I looked out into the living room. He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, his face blank. A little smile appeared in answer to mine and his eyes lightened slightly as he held his hand out to me.

I gave Ranger one last look. "Have a good night, Ranger. Call me in the morning and let me know what's going on."

Ranger nodded before he flopped back on my bed and closed his eyes.

"Come on," he said quietly as he took my hand and tugged me to the front door. His eyes sparkled as he looked down at me dress. "You look fantastic."

My eyes roamed over his body as he opened the door and ushered me out. He had on a simple white polo shirt and khaki cargoes with what looked like his work books on under them. He looked cute, relaxed but ready for whatever a night with me might bring. And knowing me, there were endless possibilities on the trouble I could attract. Hope he's carrying tonight since I couldn't get a gun in my purse.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we walked over to the elevator.

"I thought we'd do something normal," he said as he adjusted his grip on my hand and laced our fingers together. "Dinner and a movie. I can't remember the last time I did something that normal."

I laughed. "I can't either."

"Ranger stop by and tell you he needed you to work tonight?" he asked as we walked into the elevator.

I nodded my head.

"And you said no?"

"I had plans," I said quietly as I looked up at him.

His gray eyes darkened to the color of storm clouds. "You said no to Ranger because of our date?"

"Yes."

His head dropped down slowly as he walked me back to the elevator wall. A small gasp escaped my lips and his lightly feathered over mine. He took the opened and plunged his tongue into my mouth. Heat raced through my body as he slowly worked his tongue in and out of my mouth. My hands smoothed their way up his stomach to his chest where they fisted in his shirt to pull him closer.

He chuckled lightly as he pulled back. "I've been waiting to do that again since Friday night."

My hand came up to my lips. They were fuller and heated from his mouth. My tongue swept out and I almost groaned from the lingering taste of him. His eyes had followed the progress of my tongue and I watched his shoulders tense.

"We have to get out of this elevator before I take you back upstairs and kick Ranger out." His voice was a low, rough growl as he took my hand again and pulled me out of the elevator as the doors started to open.

My whole body tingled. There was a sudden hyper awareness of his body that I had never felt before. Like my body suddenly realized that he had a really nice one and it wanted, more than anything, to rub up against his naked skin. A low pool a burning desire started to build. My skin felt tight with need, a need to shed everything and mount him. Damn, is this how men felt when they desperately wanted someone?

"So, normal," I said as we walked outside towards his car.

He cleared his throat. "I've got the movie listings in my car. We can look it over at dinner."

"And where are we going for dinner?" I asked as he opened my door for me.

He stopped and turned back to me. His mouth opened to answer, but then he clamped it shut. I watched as his jaw muscles flexed and wondered for a brief moment what I missed.

He cursed low under his breath as he ran a hand through his hair.

"What?"

His arm snaked out to wrap around my waist as his other hand wrapped around the nape of my neck to pull me closer. Every nerve ending in my body light up like Fourth of July fireworks as his body brushed up against mine. My eyes locked on his and I watched them darken again to the wonderful color of storm clouds.

"You are a distraction," he whispered as he lowered his head. "All I did was kiss you and all I can think about is kissing you again. I want to do normal things with you, but having you this close to me is such a temptation that I can't think of anything other than getting your dress off."

My mouth fell open in shock at his blunt words. There was no warning. Just suddenly, his lips where on mine and the world vanished. My hands came up to fist in his hair and pull him closer. A groan vibrated through his chest as his hands splayed wide over my lower back and pushed me against him. Oh, Jesus, he was full and thick and my mind screamed out in shame for the lack of a bed.

"Dinner, dinner, dinner," he chanted as he pulled back. He gently pushed me back to arms length and gave me, what he thought was, a hard look. "No more distracting me. We need to go out to dinner. Then we have to go to a movie. We have plans and we need to stick to them. I'm not going to screw this up with you by bypassing all the important things."

He was so cute this turned on that it made me smile. He desperately wanted me and it did something in my chest region that he wanted to make sure that we had a real date.

"You can't smile like that either," he said as his eyes went wide and he paled a little bit. "I can't be held responsible when you smile like that."

I sobered at his obvious distress. He took this first step with our relationship more seriously than anyone ever had with me before. There was a little voice in the back of my head that whispered, _he really does care. _

With that thought, I pulled out of his hands and smoothed down my hair. "Okay. Dinner. Where are we going to dinner?"

He breather out a releived sigh. "I said normal. We're going to Chili's."

"Another place where I can't remember that last time I went to," I said with a frown.

"You're frowning," he said cautiously. "Is Chili's a bad idea?"

I pointed at my down cast eyebrows and said, "You said I couldn't smile, so this is what you get."

His face lit up as he head fell back with a laugh. It was full and loud and one of the greatest things I had ever heard. I bit my bottom lip to keep from smiling at him.

"Get in the Jeep," he said as he held the door back open. "Maybe a couple of beers will help relax me so that I don't ruin the whole night."

I turned from the car and looked up at him, my hand coming up to cup his cheek. "I love that you are so set on doing this. It's been a long time since anyone's done this for me."

"It's been a long time since I've wanted to do this for someone," he admitted with a slight blush to his cheeks. He shrugged. "You're important to me, Stephanie. I want to give everything I have to make you happy."

His sincerity made something inside me jump to attention and start rooting for him. "Chocolate is a food group to me. Don't yell at me or make fun of me when I'm covered in garbage. I'm smarter and stronger than most people give me credit for. If there's something I should know, tell me. I can handle it. And I hate being lied to. As long as you can keep all that in mind, we'll be fine."

As smile tugged at his lips. "Did you just give me advise about dating you?"

"Yeah," I said, heat creeping up my neck to my ears.

"Why?"

I nibbled on my lip for a moment. "Because I think I might really like you."

His face softened as he smiled at me. "Let's go to dinner and the movies. I wanna show my girl a nice night out."

As I climbed into the Jeep and he shut the door, I realized that I really liked being called his girl. That little voice in the back of my head came back as I watched him walk around the front of the car. _I hope he's the one. I hope he's the one. I hope he's the one._ I smiled at the voice. Maybe. Just maybe...


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Characters are not mine._

**Hungover**** 3**

"Is the bar area okay with you?" he asked as we walked into Chili's, his warm hand on my lower back.

I shrugged. "Fine by me."

He gave the hostess a smile as we walked passed and headed to an empty booth in the far corner. A smile tipped up my lips as he took the seat with his back to the wall, leaving me with my back to the rest of the bar area and the main door. Figures.

Our waitress appeared and we both ordered a beer. He added an order of Kickin' Jack Nachos and two glasses of water before she walked away.

"How was your day?" he asked as he grabbed the menus and handed one to me.

"The only files I had when I got in were Dougie and Mooner." I grinned. "Three hours of Hanna-Barbera cartoons was the high light of my work day. Did you know that there is a channel that just plays cartoons made by those guys?"

He nodded. "Boomerang."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"My brother has twin boys," he said to my look.

"You have brother?" I asked tentatively.

He nodded and looked back at his menu. "Jack lives in Jacksonville, Florida. He's a cop. Mindy, his wife, is of the stay-at-home-mom variety. She has her hands full with those boys."

"How old are they?" I asked as I flipped through the menu, looking at the pictures to see what caught my eye.

"Carson and Carlisle are six."

I grimaced as I closed my menu. "Do you have any other siblings?"

"Nah," he said as he looked up at me. "It was just me and Jack. My parents both grew up in single children homes." He shrugged. "They didn't want us to have the lonely childhood that they had, but didn't want a horde of kids either."

"There is a certain camaraderie with siblings that you don't usually find with friends," I said with a knowing smile. "Valerie has always been a little on the snooty side. But there were times when we got along really well."

The waitress popped back up and took our food orders while she dropped off our beers and the nachos. I ordered the Cajun Chicken Pasta and he ordered the ribs.

A sound must have escaped me because after the waitress wondered off, he said, "I'll share my ribs, but the cinnamon apples are all mine."

I grinned. "I thought about ordering them, but it never fails that when I do, I end up with sauce all over my clothes."

"They make bibs."

I threw my napkin at his cheesy grin. "It totally wouldn't go with my dress."

We chatted about things from our childhood, sports and movies until our meal arrived. It turns out that he grew up in Boston and is a die hard Red Sox fan. Looks like baseball season would be interesting.

He got a little playful while we ate, each of us feeding the other off our plates. It was nice to see him so relaxed and happy. A little part of me warmed that I was a part of his happiness.

His cell phone rang as our waitress picked up our plates. He pulled it out and frowned. "It's Ram. Can I take this?"

I shrugged. "Your phone."

"Yeah," he said as he got the phone to his ear. "**You spent one hundred and eighty dollars on what**?" He paused and waited for Ram to speak. "What am I suppose to do about this?" He paused again. "I'm on a date, Ram." He paused and then looked back up at me. "I'm with Stephanie." He paused and then grinned. "Yeah. That Stephanie." He paused again and then sighed. "Hold on."

He downed the rest of his beer before he spoke to me. "Ram racked up a large bill over at Domino's. I've got the cash to bail him out, but I'm not that crazy about interrupting our date for this."

"If you don't bail him out, who will?" I asked warily.

"Ranger or Tank."

"Then it's settled," I said as I flagged down our waitress.

"What's settled?"

I asked for the check and grabbed his phone off the table. "We'll be there in twenty minutes, Ram. Hold tight."

"You are a life saver, Stephanie!" Ram shouted.

"Indeed," I agreed. "And in return for bailing you out, you get to pay for our date Friday night."

"Aw, man..."

"I can call Ranger-"

"DEAL!"

I ended the call as the waitress reappeared with our check. He grabbed the bill fold and put his card inside before I had the chance to pull my card out.

He grinned. "Your money is no good when I ask you out for a date."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said with a nod as I stuffed my wallet back in my purse. "Between you and Ram, my bank account will start to flourish."

"You aren't having financial problems, are you?" he asked with a frown.

"I'm fine," I said with a wave of my hand. "Bad joke."

He quickly signed the bill once the waitress brought it back and stood up. "Are you sure that this is okay?"

"Yeah," I said as I stood up. "It's just Domino's. I have been there before."

He grinned. "Oh, really?"

I laughed as we started walking out. "I don't care what you've heard. I've never been on their payroll."

"Please," his voice was pained as he walked behind me. "I won't be able to walk or drive if you put the vision of you pole dancing in my head."

Spinning around, I grabbed his hands as I walked backwards. "You'd have a heart attack if you saw what I can do with a pole." I added a little hip shake to tease him a more.

He groaned and gave me a martyred look. "Please, Honey, I'm having a hard enough time not thinking about riping your dress off right where we stand. You aren't helping at all."

"Sorry." He laughed. Evidently my repentant look failed.

He unlocked my door and said, "Try to behave once we get Ram."

My hand came up automatically with the Girl Scout salute. "Promise."

The ride over to Domino's was quiet, something light and jazzy playing on the radio. He slightly hesitated when he parked outside the club.

"Do you wanna come in with me?" he asked carefully.

I smiled. "Absolutely."

He looked startled. "You do know that there are naked girls in there, right?"

"Of course," I said as I opened the door. "Ram's in there, too."

The martyred look came back to his face. "We need your single-minded tenacity right now, Stephanie. Let's get Ram, pay the bill, and boogie. No straying."

I nodded. "Gotcha."

We walked up to the main door and he did a complicated hand thing with the bouncer. With a nod towards me, he said, "We're here to pick up Ram."

The bouncer grinned. "Your boy's torn up."

"Figured," he said with a sigh as he took my hand and tugged me through the door.

I wondered for a second if it should concern me that the man I was with was recognized by a bouncer at a titty bar. The thought flitted away when I realized he couldn't be held responsible for all of his actions before he asked me out.

There was a moment when the strobe lights from the stage disoriented me, but he must have been prepared for that and just pulled me tight under his shoulder to keep us moving. Ram was sitting up at the bar when we found him. He perked up and smiled brightly once he spotted us.

"You guys are life savers!" he said as he reached out to pull me into a hug.

Ram, while he's under the influence, is a touchy person. He loves touching people and he loves people who touch him. It's not like the hug was inappropriate in any sense. But I was quickly pulled back from Ram by a hand that was firmly gripped on my arm.

Ram grinned as he looked over my head, looking slightly apologetic. "Sorry."

The bartender chose that time to come to our end of the bar. He released me long enough to pull out his credit card and place it on the bar. My heart did this funny flutter thing when I found myself quickly pulled back into his arms, his chin rubbing lightly on the top of my head.

It took only a minute to get the bill settled and then we where pulling Ram out of the club. We got him squeezed into the back of the Jeep and buckled in without incident. As I backed out of the back to stand up, a tingling sensation creped up the back of my neck. I mentally groaned.

"Babe?"

I straightened out my dress as I turned around to look at Ranger. "Fancy meeting you here."

"I thought you were on a date?" he said as he leaned over to look behind me.

"I am," I said with a large smile. "Ram called. He's drunk and wanted a ride home. I'd rather know that he got back to RangeMan in one piece, than have to worry about him for the rest of the night."

"That's very nice of you to be concerned about my men." He gave me a flat look as he straightened up.

Ranger was rubbing me the wrong way tonight. "They are my friends."

"Damn straight!" Ram called out from the back seat.

"You ready, Honey?"

I looked back over the top of the car and smiled. "Sure."

Without looking back at Ranger, I slid into the Jeep and closed the door. He gave me a tight smile as he started up the car and back out. The ride to RangeMan was silent, more comfortable when he reached over the console to wrap his hand around mine.

"I really need a trash can," Ram said as we pulled into the garage at RangeMan.

We pulled up next to the elevators and Ram crushed me into the dash as he flew out of the back seat, knocking the lid off of the barrel trash can near the door in time to lose most of the alcohol that he'd ingested tonight. I grimaced as I turned away from him.

"How about you pull the Jeep over to my parking spot while I give Ram a hand," he said with his own grimace.

I nodded. "I'll park and we'll get him up stairs."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," he said quickly.

My hands came up to silence him. "It's okay. This is Ram. He's our friend and we can't very well leave him puking his guts out like this."

He looked defeated. "What about the rest of our night? We were going to go to the movies."

I looked back over at Ram. He was still throwing up. "If we can get him settled quickly, there's a ten o'clock showing of 'Public Enemies' that we can still make."

He nodded as he climbed out of the car and I slid over to take the driver's seat. "If we miss the movie, I'm going to kick his ass." He closed the door and leaned in the window. "You can help me." I grinned as he leaned closer and kissed me lightly.

The grin stayed in place as he pulled back and walked around the front of the car. I watched him watch Ram for a moment before I pulled his car around and parked it a few spaces down from the elevator. He was still watching Ram when I walked over to stand next to him.

"You about done, Buddy?" he asked as he pulled me back under his arm.

Ram panted for a moment before he straightened up. "I think I'm cool now."

"Can he handle the elevator ride?" I asked as I eyeballed the elevator doors.

"Only one way to find out," he said as he eyeballed Ram.

Ram straightened all the way up and gave us a thumbs up. "I'm good to go. Where's the elevator?"

"Behind you," he said, his voice hinted at the worry he was feeling.

Ram ended up sitting on the floor of the elevator in the corner. The grin he had plastered across his face belied the fact that he was just hurling in a trash can.

"You know," Ram said as he stared at us. "Now that I can see you two in some real light, I think you make a cute couple."

"I didn't know that you guys had the word 'cute' in your vocabulary," I whispered with a grin.

"It's because Ram's drunk," he whispered in my ear.

"I'm drunk," Ram groused, "not deaf."

The elevator doors opened on the fourth floor and he hauled Ram up off the floor. He looked a little green as we walked him down the hall, but managed to keep his stomach in check.

Twenty minutes later, Ram was back on the floor and leaning against the wall next to the toilet in his bathroom. I didn't think that it was possible for someone to throw up as much as he had and it was worrying me.

"Should I go get Bobby?" I asked as I stood in the bathroom doorway.

"Might be a good idea," he said quietly as he washed off Ram's face. "He might have alcohol poisoning or something. Bobby's in apartment six."

A short trip down the hall later, I looked into the open door to Bobby's apartment. Bobby, Cal, and Binkie were all sitting in the living room, drinking beers and watching 'Hollow Man' on the massive plasma TV that hung on the wall.

"Hey, Steph," Bobby said when he looked over at me. "What are you doing here?"

"Ram's in the bathroom puking his guts out," I said, a little bit of my worry leaking into my voice now. "We think he might have alcohol poisoning."

Bobby sighed as he stood up."Let's go check him out."

"I'm sorry for interrupting you movie," I said as we walked down the hall.

"No problem," he said as he flung an arm around my shoulders. "It's expected occasionally, with this group of rough necks, that someone's bound to drink too much. Do you know how much of whatever he was drinking?"

"Not a clue," I said as we walked into Ram's apartment and towards the bathroom.

Bobby quickly released me when he was growled at once we walked into the bathroom. He raised his arms in surrender at the same time he shot raised eyebrows at me. I wasn't left with enough time to respond to that since I was pulled out of the bathroom quickly.

He looked down at his watch. "We might have enough time to get to the movie theater."

I stopped him with an arm on his shoulder. "I appreciate that you really want to do this. And I'm irritated that Ram busted up our date. But I think we should wait to see what Bobby says. He might need our help."

He sighed as his shoulders drooped. "I knew I shouldn't have answered my phone."

"It's not the end of the world if we miss the movie," I chided lightly. "I might have to work for Ranger tomorrow night. But I'm currently free for the rest of the week. That gives you ample time to make tonight up to me."

He laughed. "Ample time indeed."

"Hey, Steph?" Bobby called from the bathroom. "There's a black medical duffle bag in my closet. Can you grab it for me?"

"Sure," I called out, already moving out of the warm embrace I had started to snuggle into.

An hour later, the three of us were standing in Ram's bedroom, watching Ram finally fall into a coma. The night was definitely shot and I was starting to get tired from all the waiting. Bobby said it was definitely alcohol poisoning and started him in an IV right away to get him re-hydrated.

"I'll check in on him every few hours throughout the night," Bobby said as he ushered us out of the room. "Thanks for getting me. He probably would have been fine, but you never know."

He nodded. "Let me know if you need help tonight."

"I'll be fine," Bobby said with a wave of his hands. "Go get Stephanie home. She looks tired."

I frowned at the two of them. "I'm tired, not deaf."

He smiled as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "But you are tired, so I'll get you home."

We were both pretty disappointed about that thought. Bobby went back to his apartment as we headed towards the elevators. He bent his head down to nuzzle my neck as we stood in the hallway to wait for the elevator. My body was starting to fully relax into his when the bell rang for the elevator.

"Babe," Ranger said from inside the elevator.

I sighed as I straightened up and looked over at him.

His face was blank as he said, "It might be wise for you and Vince to get a room instead of giving the guys in the control room a free show."

Damn. I forgot about all the cameras.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Characters aren't mine._

**Hungover 4**

A sigh escaped my lips as I pulled out my cell. I definitely needed a ride.

Vince answered on the second ring. "Hey, Hot Stuff. What's up?"

"I need a pick up with transport to the station," I said quietly.

"Do I hear sirens? Are you hurt?" He sounded anxious.

"I'm fine. It's the apartment building I'm next to that didn't fair to well."

He was silent for a moment. "**Is the building on fire?**"

"**No, but it's going to need a paint job and a shit load of screen doors.**"

He chuckled. "You lost another car."

I tried really hard not to smile and failed. "Yeah."

"Where are you?" I gave him the address and he said, "I'll be there in five."

After closing my phone, I glared down at David Spade, my skip. He was face down on the grass with his arms cuffed behind his back and I had my gun back. Stupid gun. I told the guys that it was a bad idea to carry if I wasn't supervised. But did they listen? Nooooooo.

Eddie and Big Dog were the first on the scene. Eddie shot Big Dog a glare as he handed him a wad of cash. Big Dog slipped me a few bills off the top as he gave me a hug.

"Thanks. Now I have some extra cash for my date tonight," he said as he grinned at me.

"Is there a pool for how my cars are blown up?" I asked hesitantly.

He nodded. "But the firemen are the only ones that do that one."

Thomas Crown, a guy I went to high school with, was on the first fire truck that arrived. He looked at me, then my car, then smiled. He helped get the hose set up before making his way over to my side.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he eyed me.

I nodded. "Nice of someone to ask," I said as I sent Eddie a glare.

Eddie waved his hand at me. "If you weren't okay, you would have been sprawled out on the ground wailing in pain."

"Still would have been nice if you asked. Geez, Eddie, I thought we were friends," I groused.

"Awww, come on, Steph," Eddie said as he grinned at me. "You know I luuuuuuv you."

I laughed and waved him off as he batted his eyes at me.

"So," Thomas said, "can you tell me how this happened?"

"The skip got a hold of my gun and fired at me," I said non-nonchalantly. "I ducked and the bullets hit my car."

All three men just looked at me.

"What?"

Big Dog was the first to speak. "He shot at you?"

"Yep."

"And you ducked?" Eddie asked.

"Yep."

"Ummmm," Thomas said as he looked down my body again. "You were hit, Steph."

Big Dog, Eddie, and I all looked down my body. Sure enough, the side of my left leg was wet and there was a hole in my jeans. Actually seeing it made my leg start to hurt.

"Damn," I said as I frowned at my leg. "I didn't even feel it."

"I'll get the ambulance," Thomas said as he turned.

"NO!" I grabbed Thomas and stopped him. "Ambulance rides aren't covered by my insurance. Vince should be here momentarily. I'll have him take me in."

"You sure?" he asked as he looked down at my leg.

"Flesh wound," I said with as much of a smile as I could muster, my leg was starting to throb. "I'll head right in after I drop off my skip."

"We'll take him in for you, Steph," Eddie said as he and Big Dog picked up Spade. "You go get checked out."

Vince pulled up behind the fire truck and I knew that I wouldn't win against all of them. With a sigh, I agreed and started limping over to Vince. He climbed out with a frown on his face as he looked me over. His eyes stopped on the wet spot on my leg and they grew big.

"I thought you said you weren't hurt?" he said once he reached me.

I grimaced as my leg twinged when I stepped off the curb. "Would you believe me if I said I hadn't felt it?"

He nodded. "If your adrenaline was pumping you might not have felt it."

"Trust me," I said as I looked back at the scene behind me, "it was."

Without a word, he swept me up in his arms and started walking back to the RangeMan SUV he was driving. "Looks like you need a trip to the ER."

"Pretty much." Not like I could argue that one.

He was silent on the trip to the hospital. He was actually pretty silent while we were at the hospital, too. They ended up cutting off my jeans off instead of letting me wiggle out of them. I could have gotten out of them with some help, but Vince had walked off to make a phone call and the nurse had pointed out that they were ruined anyway. I mentally sighed. I just couldn't win. The nurse did a quick x-ray with a portable machine that they had and then took off for places unknown.

"Ram is bringing you a pair of my sweat pants," Vince said as he appeared at my side. He looked down at the wound on my leg and winced. "The bullet's still in there."

That had been the consensus between the nurse and the kid playing doctor that had stopped by for all of two seconds. "I've been informed that with a lot of local anesthetic, they can dig it out. They'll sow me back up and I'll be out of here."

"You're taking this well," Vince pointed out.

"Not a lot I can do about it," I said with a shrug. "It's definitely a learning experience."

He smiled as he tucked a stray curl behind my ear. "What'd you learn?"

"Not to carry while I work unless I have a loony after me," I said with a wry smile.

Vince was trying hard not to smile. "You got shot with your own gun?"

I sighed. "Yeah."

The kid doctor and the nurse showed back up. Vince moved to my right so that he was out of the way and took my hand. To say that having a bullet dug out of my leg was an interesting experience is an understatement. I could see him digging in my leg, and I felt a little bit of pulling, but I didn't really feel that much. The kid had explained that the x-ray showed that the bullet hadn't caused any real damage. That had been confirmed while he dug around in there.

Ram showed up right when the doctor pulled the bullet out. He dropped a pair of black sweats on the end of the bed and held an envelope out for the bullet. The kid looked at me first and I nodded that it was okay. I didn't know why Ram wanted the bullet, but I didn't think anyone else would want it either. We already knew where it had come from. My gun. Ram took the bullet, smiled at me, then left.

After getting sown back up, the kid said that I had to take it easy for a few days and come back in ten days to have the stitches taken out. I got a script for pain killers and was dismissed after the nurse wrapped my leg up with some four by four gauze pads and a lot of tape.

Vince frowned at my leg. "I'm going to re wrap that once we get to RangeMan. Do you need help getting the sweats on?"

"Probably." I frowned up at him. "Why are we going to RangeMan?"

He moved to the end of the bed and got the pants over my feet. "I have some paper work I need to get done. You can crash in my apartment while I work and then we can head back to your place."

The local in my leg was starting to wear off, but the pain pill the nurse gave me was starting to kick in. Things were getting mentally fuzzy. "You could just drop me off at home."

"But then if you need help for something, I'd have to drive over there instead of just going down a floor." Vince moved back to my side and leaned me forward as he moved my legs over the side of the gurney I was on. "Someone needs to look after you. At least for the rest of the day."

I grinned and it probably looked silly. "It don't really matter as long as there's a bed in my future."

Vince stared at me for a moment. "You don't take pain pills often, do you?"

I shook my head. It seemed like too much effort to talk.

He chuckled as he lifted me off the bed and stood me on the floor. His head disappeared for a minute and then he was in front of me again. I frowned. "Where did you go?"

"I pulled your pants up."

I looked down at the sweats that I had on. They were way to big for me. "These aren't mine. Is there a man walking around without pants on?"

"No. They're mine."

I looked at Vince's legs. "No." I pointed at his pants. "Those are your's."

He chuckled again. "Let's just go. You can keep an eye out for men with missing pants while we head out."

"Oh!" I said with large eyes as he pushed me down in a wheel chair that appeared out of no where. "They let half naked men walk around the hospital? This should be fun."

"You can look, but don't touch."

I frowned up at Vince. "Geez. Take away all my fun, why don't ya."

He chuckled again. At least I was being laughed at and not yelled at. He was probably waiting until we had more privacy.

There weren't any half naked men spotted on the way out of the hospital. I was massively disappointed. Vince helped me get up into his truck, a small smile appeared when I told him that. He buckled me in and shut the door.

"Do you want me to stop for food on our way to the office?" he asked when he climbed in on his side.

"McDonald's would be great." My stomach voiced its agreement.

He smiled over at me as he put the SUV in gear and pulled away from the ER doors. "A chocolate shake sounds pretty good right now."

I laughed. "A man after my own heart."

It sounded like he muttered 'I am', but I wasn't too sure so I didn't comment. After acquiring lunch, he drove us to the office with making a quick stop at a pharmacy. It felt like it took ten years to walk from the SUV to the elevator, a whole ten feet. Vince looked apologetic, but I waved it off. He had the really important stuff in his hands. Food and my drugs.

Vince's apartment is pretty much like the rest of them that I had seen. Spartan-chic. The only thing that really got my attention was the king size bed in the back of the room. It was covered in black and looked really comfy. Once I got the blanket and sheet pulled back, I discovered that I was right. It was like sitting on clouds.

We ate lunch sitting on his bed. Vince rambled on a little bit about the work that he had to do and said he'd check my desk to see if there was anything there waiting for me to do. I'd been making it a habit of hitting the office three times a week to do searches for the guys so I was sure that there was something to do.

"Take a nap and let the drugs wear off some," Vince said as he gathered up our trash. "I'll come back and check on you in a bit."

"Thanks a lot for today," I said, feeling a little weird that he had done so much for me.

He leaned over and kissed me lightly. "I'm just glad that you're going to be okay." He smiled. "And it made me happy that you called me when you could have called anyone."

"I didn't think of calling any one else," I said quietly.

His smile brightened. "That's a good thing, Steph. Now I have to get some work done." He kissed me one more time. "Get some rest. I'll be back."

I snuggled down on the bed and watched him walk to the door. I caught a glimpse of Ram out in the hall, his mouth set in a grim line. I thought I heard him say something about a different bullet before the door closed, but I wasn't curious enough to climb out of the bed. I was just too damn comfy and my eye lids were drooping really low. There'd be time to figure it out after I had a nap.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Characters are not mine._

**Hungover 5**

"She's okay."

A deep, soft voice brought me to a semi-conscious state.

"It scared the holy hell out of me to find her with a bullet in her leg and blood soaking into her pants. But the ER doc said that she'd be fine."

Vince. I opened my eyes and looked around his small apartment. The light in the bathroom was on with the door cracked. His voice echoed slightly as he started talking again.

"I seriously wanted to hunt the guy down and peal his skin off using cuticle scissors. But seeing her hurt... Yeah. I just took her to the hospital and never let her out of my sight.... Oh. She's hell on my blood pressure. But she's completely worth it, Mom."

Oh, God, I was over hearing a conversation with his mom? Suddenly, I was very awake.

"Ram still hasn't gotten anything from the bullet yet. He said it might take another few hours before he finds out if the striations match anything in the data bases he's running it through. And that all depends on if it's been used in a crime... Yeah. Well, in the mean time, Ranger wants her to stay in the building. She's going to get pissed over that. I know my girlfriend. She's not going to want to hide."

OH LORD! He just announced that I was his girlfriend to his mother! My mouth dropped open as I stared at the door, waiting for panic to set in. After a moment, I realized instead of being panicked, a warm fuzzy feeling slid into my chest. Snapping my mouth shut, I cringed. Shit.

"I can't just lock her up, Mom. That's exactly what everyone else in her life has always done, or tried to do, and it just gets her hurt further. If she wants to go back to her apartment, then I'll take her. I'll make sure that she's got her gun and it's loaded and that's all I can do. I will not take matters into my own hands when it comes to her." He was silent for a moment. "Of course I don't want her dead! You know what? We need a subject change before you say something to completely piss me off. Have you been by my place lately? Mindy said that the new floors look great, but the pictures she sent me sucked."

I knew that his sister-in-law's name was Mindy, but I had no clue what place he was talking about.

"That's great. She said the painters were scheduled for today. I'll call her later to see how that went. I know she's getting excited about getting to go furniture shopping next week. The woman is going to bleed me dry with this project. Especially since I'm only there twice a year." He paused and then sighed. "I know. The plan is that I'll be out of this shit in three years. As long as Mindy doesn't spend ten million dollars on furniture, that is."

My eyes went wide. He had ten mill in a bank account somewhere?

"I'm sorry I almost lost it. Tell Dad that I love him and I'll call you tomorrow, okay." He paused for a moment. "I love you too, Mom. Bye."

Did I sit here and look at him as he walked out of the bathroom, letting him know that I was awake and had heard at least some of his conversation? Or did I pretend I was sleeping? Sleeping. I turned my head from the door and closed my eyes. I can be a possum.

He quietly moved through the apartment once he came out of the bathroom a moment later. Making a stop in the kitchen for a drink, he finally made it over to the bed. He tried not to jostle me as he climbed in, but he's a little large and failed miserably.

I split my eyes open to peer at him, trying to act drowsy. "What time is it?"

He rolled onto his side and studied my face as I blinked a few times to open my eyes wider. "A little after five. Are you ready for another pain pill?"

"In a minute," I said as I scooted over on the bed and slid my arm over his chest. I laid my head on his shoulder and said, "How was your afternoon?"

He sighed as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and brought me closer. "Shitty. Better now that I'm here, though."

That made me smile. It faltered after a second though. "We were suppose to have a date tonight. Sorry I ruined it."

He kissed my hair. "It's not ruined. I called in a pick up order to Pino's, Binkie is picking it up for us, and we can just relax for the night. It doesn't matter to me what we do, as long as you are with me."

Shit. There was that warm and fuzzy feeling again. "That actually sounds really nice. Maybe we could watch a movie?"

He nodded against my hair. "We can." He squeezed me a little closer and then released me as he sat up. "Bobby's going to be here any minute to check out your leg."

My stomach roared as an overwhelming need to pee hit me. Vince laughed as I scowled at my stomach for it's loud behavior. It was easy to silence his laugh, though. "Think you might be able to help me to the bathroom before I pee your bed?"

He was at my side in an instant, pulling me up into his arms to carry me to the bathroom. I waved him off once he set me on my feet in front of the toilet. He stared at me for a moment, judging my stability, and then walked out, closing the door behind him. Sitting down and standing back up, after doing my business, tugged on the stitches slightly. But other than the small throbbing around the wound, my left leg felt fine.

Bobby was sitting at the kitchen table when I walked out.

He frowned at me and was instantly on his feet, charging me. "No walking without crutches for a few days."

"Hey!" I squealed as I was lifted up off the floor. "They didn't give me crutches or anything like that!"

"I've got some down stairs," Bobby said as he walked me to the kitchen table and sat me down on top of it. "I'll bring them up. Until I do that," he looked over at Vince, "no walking."

Vince grinned. "Consider her a sack of potatoes until then."

I glared at both of them before turning back to Bobby. "Better make it quick if you know what's good for you."

"Calm down," Bobby said as he opened the bag that sat on one of the kitchen chairs. "Let's have a look at your leg and see where we're at. I still don't know what Vince was thinking. Talking you to the hospital. Psh! What am I? A dog walker?"

"And this is where I go out to the hall," Vince said as he made his way to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked with a frown.

He stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder. "To give you privacy."

"Since when did I start needing that when it came to you?" I was confused. "You watched them stitch me up at the hospital. All Bobby's doing is taking a look. What? He can see my undies but you can't? Where's the logic?"

"He's your doctor."

"And you're my boyfriend!"

Okay. So I hadn't intended to say it so plainly and in front of so many people. It was just Bobby. But Bobby had a mouth on him that was worse than a Burg Wife. It'd be all over the building in a matter of five minutes.

I sighed. "Please, stay."

He looked at Bobby, who nodded, before he sat in the chair to my left so that he had a good view. Using my arms to lift my hips off the table, Bobby grabbed the waist band of my sweats and pulled them down. He frowned at the four by fours and tape. My hand found Vince's as Bobby took the bandage off and started prodding around.

After a moment, he sat back in the chair he was sitting in between my legs and frowned. "I don't like the coloring. I'm going to give you some antibiotics and see what happens."

"You think there's an infection?" Vince asked as he stared at my leg.

"I'd rather be safe than sorry, but it really shouldn't be that pink," Bobby said after a moment more of looking at the stitched up area. He looked down at his watch. "It's five thirty now, I'll give her the pills and come back about eleven thirty or midnight to take another look."

"Can I take a shower?" I asked as Bobby fished around in his bag.

He nodded. "You can take a five minute shower while I run down and grab you a pair of crutches."

I bulked. "Five minutes? That's not long enough to wash my hair!"

"Take Vince in with you," Bobby said nonchalantly. "Two work faster than one."

My jaw dropped open as my eyes swung around to meet Vince's. His light gray eyes started darkening as he shifted in his seat. Looks like Vince thinks it a good idea.

I grinned. "Bobby said five minutes. Do you really think we can be out in that short of time?"

He laughed. "No. It'd definitely take me a hell of a lot longer than five minutes with you in the shower."

Bobby laughed as he stood up. He held his hand out with two pills in it. "Take these." He turned to Vince. "Time her in the shower. Five minutes tops and drag her out if you have to. I'll be back in a few with her crutches."

Frowning at Vince after Bobby walked out, I said, "I don't have any clean clothes here."

He was still smiling at me. "Of course you do. I got Ella to bring me the back up clothes you kept in Ranger's apartment."

My eyebrows raised as he stood up and walked over to the door. I had completely missed the black duffel bag that was sitting on the floor. Vince brought it over to the table and sat it down next to me.

"**I got a plan, but I think I'm going to need your help**," he said as he moved to stand in front of me.

"**Okay. I'll do it**," I said automatically.

He frowned down at me. "**I haven't even told you what it is yet**."

I grinned. "**I know**."

"So you'll just do whatever I tell you too without questioning it?" There was a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"I thought this would have something to do with my shower," I said warily.

He laughed. "Of course it does. But you just jumped right on board without hearing me out."

"Well... I trust you."

He leaned forward and kissed me lightly. He spoke quietly with his lips brushing against mine. "That's sweet, but very dangerous. You really shouldn't trust me all that much."

"I trust you because I know that you won't try to seduce me until Bobby says I'm good to go. You won't risk pulling out my stitches and I have a feeling that," I paused to lick my lower lip, lightly skimming his in the process, "you will want nothing but my one hundred percent participation."

"Jesus," he whispered. "I've never been so hard in my life."

I smiled. "There are ways to fix that, you know. But we should save that for later. Binkie should be here with dinner and I still need a shower. You mentioned a plan?"

He blinked slowly. "Yes. I'll start the shower while you look for something short and clingy to wear in the duffel bag. We'll dump you in as soon as the water warms up and I'll keep you very informed on your time limit. We wouldn't want to have to drag you out of the shower all soapy and wet."

My body temperature was slowly starting to rise. He was so close and every word he said whispered across my lips.

A smile flashed acrossed his lips as he pulled back. "Shower time."

It took every piece of self control that I had not to hop off the table and tackle him to the floor as he walked to the bathroom. Instead, I watched his ass as he walked away from me. Shit. That wasn't going to help calm me down one single bit. Bastard.


End file.
